In the past, the reason Charlotte Linlin had become a sea overlord was because of her extraordinary strength.
But now?
There were only two kinds of overlords on the sea.
One was the Thunder Emperor.
The other was everyone else.
The strength Charlotte Linlin had always been so proud of was simply not enough before the Thunder Emperor. On top of that, her children had not grown up yet.
Meanwhile, the Thunder God Pirates were packed with powerful fighters. In particular, with former members of the Beasts Pirates joining them, they had become even more formidable.
Because of that, over the past few years, she had been forced to shrink her defensive lines, and her days had been extremely difficult.
And now, Shanks's arrival was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity. He could be drawn in as an ally so they could support each other.
A former sea overlord had actually been reduced to the point of seeking allies. Thinking about it was rather pitiful.
Even though Shanks had been defeated by just one of the Thunder Emperor's clones...
That was the Thunder Emperor!
No matter who it was, the entire sea felt it was only natural for them to lose to him.
In fact, it was precisely because Shanks had survived after facing the Thunder Emperor, walked away alive, and had not even been seriously injured, that his fame instantly soared.
When Shanks and his crew learned that their reputation had spread in this way, they found it absurd and were left speechless.
Since when could a loser gain such tremendous fame?
But from this, one could see just how overwhelming the Thunder Emperor's prestige on this sea truly was!
After Shanks entered the New World, more and more pirates also began advancing toward the New World, and the seas grew increasingly chaotic.
Therefore, a group of newspapers led by the World News Agency officially branded the restless seas as "a true war to decide the sovereigns!"
There were only so many territories and islands in the New World, barely enough to be divided among four forces. That was why the busybodies called it a struggle for the "Four Emperors," not a battle for "Five Stars" or "Six Emperors."
As a result, even more pirates went mad with ambition. Even Crocodile staged a comeback, formally announcing the opening of the war that would decide the four ruling powers!
However, while Crocodile was able to make a comeback, some people could only nurse their wounds in silence behind the scenes.
For example, Moria.
This guy's jaw, which had been shattered by King's kick, could no longer fully recover. His personality had also changed drastically, and he began to distrust his companions.
He believed that only dead subordinates could help him rise again and contend for supremacy.
Ever since the previous Mythical Zoan Fruit Tournament ended, he had been building a massive sailing ship comparable to an island.
At the same time, the famous stage actress Victoria Cindry happened to die in an accident after falling from the stage, while the world-renowned genius doctor Hogback had long been in love with Cindry.
After discovering this news, Moria used Cindry's resurrection as a condition to bring Hogback to Thriller Bark, where he would participate in zombie-related work.
The Moria Pirates' giant Thriller Bark began to hide in the Florian Triangle. From then on, they vanished from the world.
While the war for the Four Emperors grew more and more intense, something also happened on the Marines' side.
At a time when the sea was in chaos, Marine Headquarters Admiral Zephyr was leading a group of outstanding Marine students out at sea for training when the training ship under his command was attacked by Edward Weevil, who claimed to be Whitebeard Jr.
Aside from Ain and Binz, all of Zephyr's beloved students were killed. Even his right arm was directly cut off.
In the original timeline, this incident should only have happened in the year 1513, but due to various butterfly effects, it had occurred a full three years earlier.
With only two Admirals left, the Marines' top combat power temporarily fell to a low point. Their control over the current situation became increasingly powerless.
As for Zephyr, he officially withdrew to the second line. Scientists then modified his right arm into the Seastone-equipped mechanical arm known as Battle Smasher, which was used to deal with Devil Fruit users.
Fortunately, the world's attention was currently focused on who would ultimately become the sovereigns of the New World, so this piece of news did not cause much of a stir.
However, although this was called a struggle for sovereigns, everyone in the world knew that there was one pirate crew certain to reach the top. There was no doubt about it.
Thunder Emperor Roy!
He was a towering mountain standing above the heads of all pirates, and no one could cross over him.
Finally, after more than a year, the war for the Four Emperors came to an end.
Thunder Emperor Roy.
Whitebeard, Edward Newgate.
Big Mom, Charlotte Linlin.
Red-Haired Shanks.
These four were like emperors of the sea, occupying the ocean and constantly waging war.
However, because the world was in awe of the Thunder Emperor's strength, they did not refer to them as the Four Emperors. Instead, they called them the "One Emperor and Three Sovereigns."
The Thunder Emperor stood firmly above the other three sovereigns!
After the title "One Emperor and Three Sovereigns" spread, both Big Mom and Red-Hair remained silent. Aside from Whitebeard muttering a couple of lines after drinking too much, he did not have any particular opinion either.
Thus, through the newspapers printed by Morgans, this title spread far and wide, completely establishing the Thunder Emperor's status.
As for losers in the war for sovereignty such as Crocodile, he challenged the Thunder Emperor several times. In the end, he did not even get to see Roy's face before he was cut down and seriously injured by Roy's subordinate swordsman, Shiryu of the Rain, who left a deep scar on his face.
Helpless, Crocodile had no choice but to give up and retreat back to the first half of the Grand Line.
After the One Emperor and Three Sovereigns were settled, the Marines officially implemented the Seven Warlords of the Sea plan in order to seek powerful combat forces and help maintain the balance of the New World.
For now, the candidates for the Seven Warlords were tentatively chosen from powerful figures who had either participated in this war for supremacy or had previously challenged the sea overlords and failed, yet still displayed extremely eye-catching strength.
For example, Crocodile and Moria.
Of course, they might not have been the strongest among this group of defeated pirates, but their names survived.
As for some of the famous great pirates who were even stronger than them, most had been wiped out completely during this contest for supremacy.
In fact, after those pirates died, the atmosphere on the sea actually improved for once. For the Marines, that had to be considered a good thing.
Moreover, after this war for supremacy, those sovereigns would probably focus on resting and consolidating their prestige for the time being. They would not make any unnecessary moves.
(End of Chapter)
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